Page 88 of Monster's Pretty Bride

Another gargoyle, younger, more fragile, shudders where he stands. “Not for long. We can’t fight like this, Lord Naranus. We’re weakening. Our magic is unstable because of the purnas. We?—”

“You will fight,” I cut him off, voice sharp enough to draw blood. “You will stand, even if it’s the last damn thing you do. I did not crawl out of the wreckage of our home to hear defeat.”

The words are cruel. Necessary.

Rhyzek grits his teeth, nodding once.

A third warrior steps forward, his stance wary. “We’ve gathered intel.”

I lift my chin, motioning for him to speak.

“The Purna Elders have declared you a Target of Elimination,” he says grimly. “They won’t wait for Eryss to act.”

The world narrows.

“Explain.”

“They sent an elite faction of Purna Assassins after you.” His voice is flat, emotionless, but there’s a shadow of concern in his gaze. “If they reach you first, there will be no saving Eryss. They’ll kill her for failing her mission.”

Something inside me fractures.

I exhale slowly, rolling my shoulders, locking away the rage that surges up like a beast from the abyss.

Eryss.

They’ll kill her for sparing me.

I force the words through clenched teeth. “How long before they arrive?”

The warrior shakes his head. “Hours. Maybe less.”

A slow, sharp smile curves my lips. “Then we will greet them properly.”

The outpost is barely standing, but there’s something left behind. Something that wasn’t here before.

Carved into the ruins, written in streaks of dark, dried blood, is a message.

THE STONE BEAST WILL DIE BY HER HAND OR OURS.

The words claw into me, hook deep beneath my ribs.

I stare at them, something dark and simmering curling in my gut.

My warriors shift behind me, uneasy.

“It’s a warning,” Rhyzek mutters. “They want her to do it. Or they’ll do it for her.”

I let out a slow breath, turning away. The words shouldn’t affect me. I’ve always expected this ending. I was never meant to survive. None of us were.

But something does affect me. The idea of her being forced to choose.

She was supposed to be my executioner, and yet she refuses. Again and again.

Now, she’s in danger because of it.

I curl my hands into fists. She will not die because of me.

If I end this now, I save her.

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